AASV News: Sept-Oct 2011
We all know AASV members with dedication to the association and the swine industry that is worthy of recognition. Do not assume others will nominate members if you do not step up to bring forward names for consideration. Presentation of the AASV awards is one of the highlights of the annual meeting. The meaning and impact for the award winners is immeasurable. Make sure you do your part and nominate worthy members for recognition. Reflect, identify, and move forward. The nomination letters do not need to be lengthy, detailed, or all inclusive.
Do it now. Do not procrastinate. Do not be telling yourself in January, I should have gotten that done. It is up to YOU.
The AASV Awards Committee requests nominations for the following five awards to be presented at the upcoming AASV annual meeting in Denver.
Howard Dunne Memorial Award – Given annually to an AASV member who has made a significant contribution and rendered outstanding service to the AASV and the swine industry.
Meritorious Service Award – Given annually to an individual who has consistently given time and effort to the association in the area of service to the AASV members, AASV officers, and the AASV staff.
Swine Practitioner of the Year – Given annually to the swine practitioner (AASV member) who has demonstrated an unusual degree of proficiency in the delivery of veterinary service to his or her clients.
Technical Services/Allied Industry Veterinarian of the Year – Given annually to the technical services or allied industry veterinarian who has demonstrated an unusual degree of proficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of veterinary service to his or her company and its clients, as well as given tirelessly in service to the AASV and the swine industry.
Young Swine Veterinarian of the Year – Given annually to a swine veterinarian who is an AASV member, 5 years or less post graduation, who has demonstrated the ideals of exemplary service and proficiency early in his or her career.
Nominations are due December 15. The nomination letter should specify the award and cite the qualifications of the candidate for the award. Submit to AASV, 830 26th Street, Perry, IA 50220; Fax: 515-465-3832; E-mail: aasv@aasv.org.
Call for papers – 2012 Student Seminar
The American Association of Swine Veterinarians announces an opportunity for veterinary students to make a scientific presentation at the AASV Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado, on Sunday, March 11, 2012. Interested students are invited to submit a 1-page abstract of a research paper, clinical case study, or literature review for consideration. The submitting student must be a current (2011-2012) student member of the AASV at the time of submission.
Abstracts and supplementary materials must be received by Dr Alex Ramirez (alex@aasv.org) by 11:59 pm Central Daylight Time on Monday, September 26, 2011 (firm deadline). All material must be submitted electronically. Late abstracts will not be considered. You should receive an e-mail confirming the receipt of your submission. If you do not receive this confirmation e-mail, you must contact Dr Alex Ramirez (alex@aasv.org) by Wednesday September 28, 2011, with supporting evidence that the submission was made in time; otherwise your submission will not be considered for judging. The abstracts will be reviewed by an unbiased professional panel consisting of a private practitioner, an academician, and an industry veterinarian. Fifteen abstracts will be selected for oral presentation in the Student Seminar at the AASV Annual Meeting. Students whose papers are selected will be notified by October 17, 2011, and will be expected to provide the complete paper or abstract, reformatted for publication, by November 15, 2011.
To help defray the costs of attending the AASV meeting, Pfizer Animal Health provides a $750 honorarium to the student presenter of each paper selected for oral presentation during the Student Seminar.
Veterinary student scholarships Veterinary students whose papers are selected for oral presentation also compete for one of several veterinary student scholarships awarded through the AASV Foundation. The oral presentations will be judged to determine the amount of the scholarship awarded. Pfizer Animal Health funds a $5000 scholarship for the student whose paper, oral presentation, and supporting information are judged best overall. Eli Lilly and Company Foundation, on behalf of Elanco Animal Health, provides $20,000 in additional funding enabling the AASV Foundation to award $2500 each for 2nd through 5th place, $1500 each for 6th through 10th place, and $500 each for 11th through 15th place.
Abstracts that are not selected for oral presentation in the Student Seminar will be considered for participation in a poster session at the annual meeting. Pfizer and the AASV fund a stipend of $250 for each student who is selected and participates in the poster presentation. In addition, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc provides financial support for the Veterinary Student Poster Competition. The presenters of the top 15 poster abstracts compete for awards ranging from $200 to $500.
Complete information for preparing and submitting abstracts is available on the AASV Web site at www.aasv.org/annmtg/2012/studentseminar.htm. Please note: the rules for submission should be followed carefully. For more information, contact the AASV office (Tel: 515-465-5255; Fax: 515-465-3832; E-mail: aasv@aasv.org).
43rd AASV Annual Meeting: Call for submissions – Industrial Partners session
The American Association of Swine Veterinarians invites submissions for the Industrial Partners portion of the 43rd AASV Annual Meeting, to be held March 10-13, 2012, in Denver, Colorado. This is an opportunity for commercial companies to make brief presentations of a technical, educational nature to members of the AASV.
As in the past, the oral sessions will consist of a series of 15-minute presentations scheduled from 1:00 to 5:00 pm on Sunday afternoon, March 11, 2012. A poster session will take place on the same day. Poster authors will be required to be stationed with their posters from 12:00 noon until 1:00 pm, and the posters will remain on display throughout the afternoon and the following day for viewing by meeting attendees.
Restricted program space necessitates a limit on the number of presentations per company. Companies that are members of the Journal of Swine Health and Production Industry Support Council (listed on the inside front cover of each issue of the journal) may submit two topics for oral presentation. All other companies may submit one topic for oral presentation. Each company may also submit one topic for poster presentation (poster topics may not duplicate oral presentations). All topics must represent information not previously presented at the AASV annual meeting or published in the meeting proceedings.
Topic titles, a brief description of the presentation content, and presenter information (name, address, telephone and fax numbers, e-mail address) must be received in the AASV office by September 30, 2011. Please identify whether the submission is intended for oral or poster presentation. Send submissions via mail, fax, or e-mail to Commercial Sessions, AASV, 830 26th Street, Perry, IA 50220; Fax: 515-465-3832; E-mail: aasv@aasv.org.
Authors will be notified of their acceptance by October 17, 2011, and must submit the paper for publication in the meeting proceedings by November 15, 2011. All presentations – oral and poster – will be published in the proceedings of the meeting. Papers for poster presentations are limited to one page of text plus one table or figure. Papers for oral presentations may be up to 5 pages in length (including tables and figures), when formatted according to the guidelines provided upon acceptance of the presentation. Companies failing to submit papers in a timely manner will not be eligible for future participation in these sessions.
Supreme Court to review non-ambulatory livestock ruling
The US Supreme Court has agreed to review a ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit which upheld a California law banning the slaughter of non-ambulatory livestock of any species. The National Meat Association (NMA) and the American Meat Institute (AMI) challenged the law citing its failure to distinguish differences between livestock species regarding fatigued animals, such as swine, and non-ambulatory livestock caused by other conditions. The AASV joined with the National Pork Producers Council in filing an amicus brief in support of the NMA petition.
The law would prevent the antemortem inspection of fatigued hogs, thus rendering them ineligible for processing for human consumption. Although NMA-AMI initially prevailed, the Ninth Circuit overturned that decision in April. The Solicitor General of the United States has advised the Supreme Court that the Ninth Circuit decision was in error. The Supreme Court is expected to hear the case during its next term beginning in October.
Extreme heat losses may be eligible for indemnity
The Farm Services Agency (FSA) manages the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) authorized under the 2008 Farm Bill. LIP provides benefits to livestock producers for livestock deaths in excess of normal mortality caused by adverse weather that occurred between January 2008 and October 1, 2011. The program includes losses because of hurricanes, floods, blizzards, disease, wildfires, extreme heat, and extreme cold.
Producers need to notify their local FSA offices of losses within 30 days after the loss for partial reimbursement. The reimbursement amount for those eligible for LIP is based on market value and weight of livestock. It is important that producers contact their local FSA offices as soon as possible to recover some of their losses, as there will be many producers across the country in similar situations. For additional information including eligibility requirements, review the fact sheet entitled “Livestock Indemnity Program” on the FSA website (http://www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/lip2011_158c020211.pdf).
Pigs and high temperatures
Extreme heat is a significant animal welfare and economic concern for swine producers. Pigs do not perspire and must rely on evaporative cooling to maintain body temperature. The challenge to keep pigs cool may be exacerbated during transport in elevated temperatures and high humidity.
Heat and humidity can be deadly to pigs. When ambient temperatures approach 100 degrees, pigs may enter a “danger zone” with humidity levels as low as 15%, and it can quickly become an emergency when relative humidity levels exceed 35%.
The National Pork Board’s Transport Quality Assurance Program (TQA) offers some guidelines for transportation during times of extreme weather conditions (http://www.pork.org/filelibrary/TQA/TQAExtreme Weather.pdf ). The TQA program recommends utilizing the following procedures to keep animals cool and eliminate unnecessary transport losses during extreme weather conditions.
1. Adjust your load conditions (eg, stocking density) during temperature extremes.
2. Schedule transportation early in the morning or at night.
3. When the temperature is > 60ºF (15ºC), use wet shavings to keep hogs cool.
4. If the temperature is > 80ºF (27ºC), sprinkle hogs with water prior to loading at buying stations or on the farm (use a coarse heavy spray but not mist).
5. Always be prepared to react and adjust to rapid temperature fluctuations such as the first warm day(s) of spring.
6. Never bed hogs with straw during hot weather.
7. Remove slats from farm trucks.
8. Open nose vents.
9. Unplug ventilation holes.
10. Load and unload promptly to avoid heat buildup.
In addition, truckers should be prepared to adjust their routes should there arise significant delays from highway construction or accidents. It is important to keep the trucks moving to promote evaporative cooling of the animals. If there are delays unloading the animals, utilize “cooling stations” (such as fans or misters) provided at some off-loading facilities or keep the trucks moving to encourage continued air flow. Do not park in areas where the air flow may be obstructed by buildings or other trucks. On prolonged trips, it may be necessary to provide the animals with water or to spray them down to keep them cool.